A blog focusing on viewpoints and knowledge from people around the world as we look toward Africa today.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Evangelist Pat Robertson & President Hugo Chavez Face Off

While I’m on the Hot Button subjects of religion and politics it should be noted that last night while viewing international news I got the shock of my life. CNNI Europe ran a report showing U.S. TV evangelist preacher Pat Robertson calling for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo (the Bear) Chavez. That’s right, Robertson was advocating ASSASSINATION of a democratically elected president of a sovereign nation in the Americas on international TV! I couldn’t believe it! Don’t we have enough problems on our plates back home without this idiot getting the Venezuelans and half of South America riled up against U.S.?

Fortunately the story didn’t get picked up (yet) in a major way over here in Germany by TV networks (not sure about the press), so I double-checked what’s shaking in the Blogosphere this afternoon and here is what I was able to find out:

First place I did a check was at Technorati and the Top Blog Topic of the Day is guess what? Pat Robertson. 15,431 blog posts and counting and almost none of them are supportive of Reverend Robertson’s comments about the benevolent President Chavez, hero of the poor and downtrodden masses of Venezuela.

Then I went over to Blogpulse (we’ll talk about them later, these folks are GOOD) to see what they had on the story and came up with some real gems. Check out their Blogpulse Newswire post for August 24, 2005 “Big Mouth Wednesday: Pat Robertson & Google Talk”. This is the first place online (Blogosphere & the Web) where I could find complete text and a streaming video replay of Pat Robertson’s TV Blooper of the Century. Here is an excerpt from what Robertson said and I quote:

“…You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don't think any oil shipments will stop. But this man is a terrific danger and the United ... This is in our sphere of influence, so we can't let this happen. We have the Monroe Doctrine, we have other doctrines that we have announced. And without question, this is a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil, that could hurt us very badly. We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with…”

Unbelievable, isn’t it!! Unbelievable!And they (the Feds) didn’t lock this guy up yet! What about all of those new anti-terrorism laws Congress passed last year? Isn’t this kind of thing against the law in America?

I know that some of you out there don’t believe me, especially my blogger buddies working down in remote areas (jungles, deserts, etc.) without good access to the latest news and information. So checkout this article from the non-profit group Media Matters with the Instant Replay video:Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuelan President…Here are some excerpts and links to what some other well-known bloggers are saying about the right Reverend Robertson’s ideas on regime change in South America:

“What is it we’re supposed to do? Condemn terrorism and similar outrages even if they do come from our own side? I’m not sure that Pa[t] Robertson is in fact on my side. Religious fundamentalists of any stripe are not "my side" but as he’s identified as "right wing" and some people, rather absurdly, seem to think that I am also such, here’s my response to his latest:”

“…I do have one reasonably important difference with Tim on the deontological level I think: political assassination. I do not favour this, and recent US history in Latin America is not a happy one in this regard to say the least. Maybe my perspective is coloured regionally, but little as I like Chavez, I regard Vladimir Putin as a much worse global menace,…”

"Now, I'm not a fan of Hugo Chavez. I think he is a demogogue that dresses up in democratic clothing. But the Venezuelan people did vote for him and that has to stand. Chavez already thinks we are looking to bump him off, we don't need some nutjob like Robertson trying to play to Chavez's assas[s]ination fantasies."

"I agree that Hugo Chavez ain't on the up and up. However, this is the same Pat Robertson who cozied up to Charles Taylor's tyrannical regime in Liberia in order to illegally set up a gold mining venture in that country? And Chavez is small fry compared to the mess that Chuckie (who is now passing time in exile in a villa in Nigeria) wrought in Liberia: a civil war that killed 12% of the total population, half of Liberia's women raped by various rebel forces and his henchmen..."

Jewels in the Jungle: My Comments to Booker Rising Post Aug. 24, 2005

“I almost choked on my beer and pretzels over here in Germany last night after seeing this nutjob Pat Robertson make an ass of the whole country on CNNI and BBC news! Cain't we do better than this, America?? Fortunately Robertson is not that well known abroad but I think that may change after his outrageous remarks about Chavez. Whack the President of Venezuela?? Is he crazy? I didn't know about the links between Robertson and Charles Taylor down in Liberia. Thanks for the tip in your comment over at Dean's World. This guy Robertson should be "Dead Meat" in the Blogosphere as of today. Did anyone back home make an official apology to the people of Venezuela? Did the price of a barrel of oil increase further because of this guy?"

“…Robertson is no stranger to controversy. Right after the September 11 tragedies, Robertson along with fellow evangelist Jerry Falwell agreed that the attacks were caused by "pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays, lesbians, the ACLU and the People for the American Way…"

“Robertson repeatedly supported Taylor in various episodes of his 700 Club program during the United States' involvement in the Liberian Civil War in June and July 2003. Robertson accuses the U.S. State Department of giving President Bush bad advice in supporting Taylor's ouster as president, and of trying "as hard as they can to destabilize Liberia." Robertson has been criticized for failing to mention in his broadcasts his $8 million investment in a Liberian gold mine. Taylor had been at the time of Robertson's support indicted by the United Nations for war crimes. According to Robertson, the Liberian gold mine Freedom Gold, was intended to help pay for humanitarian and evangelical efforts in Liberia, when in fact the company was allowed to fail leaving many debts both in Liberia and in the international mining service sector. Regarding this controversy, Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Convention's public policy said, "I would say that Pat Robertson is way out on his own, in a leaking life raft, on this one."

Update August 25th:I should point out that Pat Robertson did make an apology for his "inappropriate comments" regarding President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, and I cleaned up my own inappropriate comment yesterday about Mr. Robertson's money trail to Liberia (as we have no definitive proof, yet). In addition I am adding to this post an interesting report on Prez Chavez by CBN News senior reporter Dale Hurd. Below is an excerpt from the CBN report "Hugo Chavez vs. America".

CARACAS, Venezuela - His name is Hugo Chavez. He is the president of oil-rich Venezuela. Mr. Chavez has decided that America is his enemy, so he is building up his army. He has forged an alliance with Fidel Castro, and many think he is going to make trouble for the United States.Chavez believes he is in a fight with the devil. But the devil that Chavez fights does not reside in Hell. Chavez believes that the devil resides in Washington... (read more)

According to the Associated Press Pat Robertson did apologize for his inappropriate remarks about "taking out" President Chavez. It was a misunderstanding of the semantics he used you see, 'cause the term "taking out" could mean anything.

"Taking out" is not nearly as clear a term as I used in my blog post above: " [Whack] the President of Venezuela??" We've been making some improvements to the King's English over in the Colonies since you Brits were in charge. Our use of the English language is crisp and gets to the point faster.

The CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) has a feature by one of their senior reporters which I will use today to update this posting. It would only be fair and exemplify good journalistic practice to show at least one point of view from the Robertson camp over at the CBN.

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